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Written by

Karine Grigoryan

02-09-2018 | 22:08 Football
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Arsenal to prioritise safety over Mkhitaryan case with the Azerbaijan visa

Unai Emery hopes Henrikh Mkhitaryan is able to travel to Azerbaijan despite the conflict between the country and the player's native land. Arsenal will be travelling to Azerbaijan on October 4 to face Qarabag in the Europe League group stage. Whether Mkhitaryan will be able to play in that game remains a doubt due to the ongoing issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Emery is hoping for a different solution this time: "I would like that he can [travel] with us. And this problem, if we can together arrange [a solution], it's better. But I have not yet spoken with him." A spokesperson for Arsenal told Standard Sport: “Safety and security of our players and staff is always a top priority. We will be looking into this situation, talk to the player and make a decision after that.” Uefa confirmed that it will support Mkhitaryan for visa. "It is a standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visa for players in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa competition matches,” a spokesperson said. So if Mkhitaryan doesn't travel for the game against Qarabag, it is likely that if Arsenal reaches the final, the midfielder will miss it too.

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